Tesla and Chief Executive Elon Musk scored another victory on Tuesday when a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit accusing them of deceiving shareholders about the safety and effectiveness of the company’s driver-assistance technology.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Holguin said the plaintiffs failed to prove that Musk acted “willfully recklessly” when he claimed that Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving technology can be safer than human driving.
The judge found that many of Musk’s claims about self-driving capabilities were “corporate bragging,” or exaggerations of future products. Other statements may be classified as “forward-looking statements” because they address future expectations for the technology. The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it can be refiled with amendment.
The dismissal is the latest legal victory for Tesla, which has won court victories over its advanced driver-assistance technology. The company won two jury trials last year in which it claimed Autopilot was to blame for crashes.
